Mandated Vacation

Consent. Cooperation. Compliance. Coercion. Force. The F word. It’s the odd one out, the hard line (and you can’t talk about it).

They say, “we’re here for you” but they really mean “you’ll lose your livelihood if you don’t obey.”

It’s the heaviness we carry lately with fake smiles and dwindling bank accounts as we go to work, dreading a conversation that isn’t supposed to happen but still might. Over a year ago, many were sick and even dying from this new disease. Now, less are dying but it’s more viral. It’s how diseases typically work: over time less fatal, more viral, at least for a few years. People get sick. It’s not necessarily life or death for a lot of us.

In some ways, we’re thankful an option for a vacation is there, but this “vacation” is just what we call it. It’s not a getaway to somewhere nice; it’s a thing people can put into their bodies in hopes of fighting this disease. I say “can” lightly. It’s more like “you must put this into your body if you want to be provided for, included in the majority, and still working here.”

Many took the vacation out of fear or - at best - feeling indifferent. They didn’t want to fight the loud voice saying it had to be done or else. There’s a smaller group of us - a mostly silent minority - that strongly oppose the vacation, and we are covertly strategizing how to keep our heads down while protecting ourselves.

If you see us in person, you wouldn’t necessarily know we’re in the minority. Online, you’re more likely to find out, especially if you’re in the minority with us. But just in case you aren’t one of us free-thinking, against-the-current types, we will not speak plainly in person or online, even in our supposedly private support page.

You see, it’s not all vacations we’re against (except maybe some of us). We’re mostly just against this new one being forced upon us with veiled threats and way too little data behind it. Many of us have gone a long time without a vacation, and we’re generally pretty healthy. I know for a fact, we’ve been around some vacationed people who seem sick often, or simply get very sick the few times they seem to.

We all have picked our poison - some of a more literal sense. I know it’s extreme to say. It may not be actual poison, the vacation, but it’s not performing magic or curing underlying conditions like people seem to think. 

***

“Hey… did you need to submit an apple yet?” my friend said to me when she saw me at the store. For a split second, I almost laughed, because she used the code word even though we weren’t under the internet’s prying eyes. We were in the produce section though, so maybe she was trying to sound natural or crack a punny joke.

“Not yet” I responded. “My …apple…will probably be denied though, whenever I get it finished and submitted.” 

Our eyes have gone crossed eyed in our “vacations support” group online, reading rejections and legal templates and code words for weeks since the vacation rolled out.

We parted from the grocery store with tired eyes and knowing looks that said, “stock up now, while you can.” We like to stock up a little more on groceries these days, just in case we can’t as easily get more if we’re found out. 

That’s the weird thing too. People are being asked in creative ways if they’ve had the vacation, and those who have usually are fairly free about discussing it (in covered language). The more annoying few will even make a special post online about it or will tell you every chance they see you. But you can tell sometimes that people either are in our camp and have to be super generic when they respond, or they are uncomfortable with being asked at all and will say “maybe soon” or “ah, silly you” without actually answering.

People can’t just ask someone directly or share openly though. I mean… they could, if they want to risk jail time or a hefty fine. But that’s only if they’re heard by the wrong person. Most people - even the repeatedly vacationed ones - don’t risk it all the time. Every once in a while, someone will ask “did you get it yet?” or will share “I’ve had it twice now.” Even those in favor of the vacation have to be covert like those of us against it. The main difference is they probably don’t have an online support group where they discuss how to keep their jobs and avoid the vacation. We may all be bound by secretive code words and choosing who we speak with carefully, but we’re the ones who have the most to lose. If they got caught being too direct, I wouldn’t be surprised if they got a pat on the back. It’s harder to find those avoiding the vacation like the sickness people are so afraid to get.

***

[About 1 week later]

“Unfortunately, someone in this group got hospitalized yesterday. They ended up taking the vacation last weekend because they’re a single parent and they got told ‘you need to take it, or we have to let you go.’ They’ve been struggling to breathe and they’re heart has been giving them issues. They’re getting seen and getting relief, and they shouldn’t need surgery. But I won’t be tagging them, for privacy reasons. I’ll visit them soon to see how they are. Just letting everyone know.”

I read this post earlier this morning, and I'm scared that even one of us got pushed into something they didn’t want. Who knows how long they’ll be affected… longer than if they’d simply gotten the disease and ridden it out. The audacity it’s being discussed more readily too… don’t these people realize it’s against the law to discuss it? They certainly don’t mind threatening people with it, because by now we all know what “it” is without having to say it. 

***

[About 6 months later]

“You won’t believe it. My apple got approved! I can stay active at my job without taking the vacation. I have to test each week to make sure I’m negative, but that’s fine. Not sure entirely what happens if I’m positive, but if it means I simply stay home and don’t get fired that day, I’m okay with that. Now that I mention it, what if I’m positive with other sickness? Eh… maybe they’d still just let me stay home at this point.”

A mostly positive post in our group today. Definitely some hope after the other person got hospitalized for taking the vacation. Thankfully, I learned she’s been out of the hospital for almost 6 months and seems to be okay. Breathing is still harder for her though. At least she has her job. I only figured out who it was because I knew the woman who posted about it months ago. 

Comments to the post about the “apple” being approved varied from:

“A win is a win!” to

“still going to tread carefully at my job” and

“Heck yes! No vacations for us!” 

Many people will still have to speak in veiled ways on this page so we don’t lose traction and can maintain privacy. Slowly but surely, we’ll be able to avoid this vacation and delay, delay, delay. It’s a tactic we’ll use if our bosses try to have a serious discussion about it with us or fire us without a specific cause (on paper), or our crazy family member tries to exclude us from a holiday meal. Delaying can be a war strategy. If it comes up, they’re taking a risk with the law too, but we can set the boundaries if we need to protect our peace. We can fake smile and keep our heads down better than we can take the vacation, I suppose.